The Silent Underdog
by The Assassin's mentor
Summary: Words don't always express how a person feel. They may have the emotion and meaning behind them. But actions speak louder than words. Whether big or small, it leaves an impact on the world. And with each jab Atom gives, it changes something for the better.


Chapter 1

**A/N: After seeing a movie I love so much, my mind couldn't help but think this idea up. It seemed like a pretty good idea when I thought it out. Real Steel is a pretty good movie. Haven't heard of it, look it up.**

**The robots from the movie are now human. No cybernetics, no enhancements, just good human guts and ingenuity.**

**Also, Shy!Atom. He's such cutie when he's a shy guy.**

**Sorry if any of the characters seem OOC, just needed to do that to set the mood in. **

**So, let us start off on this story here.**

**Disclaimer: I don't own RWBY or Real Steel.**

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><p><em>"The loneliest people are the kindest. The saddest people smile the brightest. All because they do not wish to see anyone else suffer the way they do." -Unknown<em>

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><p><em>Left...<em>

He brought his fist back staring straight at the punching bag in front of him.

_Right..._

Throwing another punch at the bag suspended from the chain it hanged from.

_Right, left..._

Two straight punches to the upper portion of the bag.

_Left hook..._

His fist coming from the side, propelling itself into the side of the punching bag, leaving behind a small dent into the already dented leather casing of the bag.

Sweat started to drip down his chin with each punch he threw at the punching bag. Each punch was accompanied by a small grunt with each strike. His eyes were glued onto the throbbing bag as his fists made contact with it.

A few minutes passed on by as he continued his routine on the bag. He was so focused in his punching until he heard someone snicker. "Whoa, Atom, don't you think you've been giving that bag enough trauma already?" Someone stated jokingly from behind.

The figure turned around to look at the person behind him. He stared at the person with bright sky blue eyes that seemed to be alight when in a dark place. His short, wavy, shadow black hair was drenched in his sweat, his pale peach skin coated in a light layer of sweat, shinning in the lighting of the floodlights over the boxing ring. His tan headband has soaked up the salty perspiration that came out of his skin. A white cotton shirt clung to his sweat covered body, slightly showing his toned muscles underneath. Black charcoal pants were slightly loosed up from all his movement with white runners comfortably supporting his feet. Sports tape was wrapped around his wrists and his palms, showing small signs of tear and wear.

"Yeah, I'm not like a lazy person like you, Midas," Atom retorted back, wiping the sweat off his forehead with the back of his right hand.

Midas grinned at his friend. "Why thank you, I'm a guy that at least relaxes from time to time." A large red mohawk was sticking up from his head that came along with his tanned skin. Golden eyes looked at the slightly shorter person in front of him, bursting with energy. A light brown t-shirt was draped loosely on his body with ripped blue jeans around his waist. Atom was surprised that they haven't been thrown into the garbage yet. A black goatee spanned across his chin and over his lips. Black sneakers were on his feet as he walked towards the smaller boxer in front of him. He grabbed Atom by the head and drilled his fist into his sweaty hair. "You gotta learn how to relax, Demos!" Midas told him as the younger boxer tried to pry himself away from his grasp.

"Midas, you're gonna kill Atom one day if you keep doing that to him." The two boxers looked in the direction the voice came from to see someone leaning on the brick wall near the entrance to the boxing gym. His purple hair was combed to the left with golden accents along some of the lining, here and there. His dark purple eyes looked at the two on the ring, with a tint of annoyance flashing in them. He wore tan slacks, a white dress shirt with the sleeves rolled up past his elbows, a black vest over his upper body with the upper chest slightly exposed, and black dress shoes. His arms were covered in tattoos of various Oriental Kanjis like Oblivion, Death, and Ruthless. This gave off the small interpretation that he was a fashionista like gunman.

Midas rolled his eyes at the man. "C'mon, Suchiru, we're just having fun."

"Having fun doesn't mean choking our friend to death," Suchiru Senshi retorted bluntly.

"Says the one who I beated in the underworld when he was having a winning streak," Midas teased him.

Suchiru's eyes widened at Midas' words. He cracked his knuckles with his eyes showing that he was pissed off at the statement the Golden Boxer told him. "Oh, I'm going to enjoy wiping that grin off your sorry face."

Midas grin grew wider at Suchiru. He let go of Atom who collapsed to the ground catching his breath. He pointed a finger at the Fashionista and flicked it towards himself. "See if you can try."

Snarling, Suchiru ran up to the ring and climbed over the ropes. He landed on the ring and glared at Midas with a scowl on his face. "Oh, you're so dead!"

Atom took this as his opportunity to haul himself out of their before things got a tad to hairy. When those two start fighting, it doesn't stop until someone hits the mat. Those were the words that his mentor, Charlie Kent, said to him, using the same words his mentor told him when he was training in the boxing world.

He went under the ropes and walked over to the bench where his grey tracksuit jacket was laying in wait for him. The Underdog grabbed a towel beside his jacket and began to dry himself from his sweat, ruffling his hair and wiping the sweat off his arms and face. Atom dropped the towel back down on the bench and grabbed his tracksuit jacket. He slipped into the jacket and zipped it up, only having it an inch away from his collar. He rolled his sleeves up midway to his elbows with the sports tape showing.

Atom looked behind him to see Suchiru pinning Midas against a corner, throwing punch after punch across while the latter was blocking the incoming strikes. He shook his head with a small chuckle before going to the double doors of the gym and went past them when Midas punched Suchiru in the face making him curse in the Oriental tongue.

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><p>The sun began to drift down to the horizon as the evening round came into play. Atom had his hands in the pockets of his tracksuit jacket, turning his head around looking at the multiple buildings of Vale. The shadows started to elongate with the bright lights starting to turn on automatically. The Underdog began to whistle along his slow pace on the sidewalk.<p>

He has been going to the boxing gym for the past nine years. He has been going ever since he was nine. Atom had grown an interest in boxing after seeing THE Charlie Kent going up against Juan de Rodrigues, number two in the world of the sport, and seeing Charlie knock down Juan multiple times before getting knocked out for good, losing the match. Atom himself by nature was a very determined person, not letting anything hold him back from doing his goals.

Remembering that he was passing by a familiar part of Vale, he decided to go to the book store he always went to whenever he had a chance. While he was friends with Midas and Suchiru, and his aunt, he was a very shy person. He barely spoke a word to anyone unless they're close friends or family of his. By being this shy and not as talkative to people, he was given the impression that he was mute. He always wanted to say he wasn't but just stayed put.

Atom wasn't able to socialize well when he was at Signal for part of his combat studies. So he took up on literature and writing. He finds it in a way of stress reliving where boxing was one of his other ways of stress relief. Thanks to this, he has aced through Signal with flying colours in his studies asides from the combat training.

Looking up to see the familiar store sign hanging overhead, Atom placed his hand on the door and pushed it open entering the store. He was greeted by the sight of bookshelves and high stacks of books behind the counter. He looked around for a moment before going to the counter. He placed his hand on the bell on the counter and pressed on it, letting out a small ping sound. "Coming!" Someone called out from back of the store. Atom turned around and leaned on the counter top on his side. He moved his mouth around as he was waiting for the guy to come out. A few moments passed by and he heard the doors open. The Underdog turned his head around to see him. "Ah, if it isn't Atom. How can I help you?"

Atom smiled at him, turning his entire body to face the man. "Hey, Tukson. I just came back from some boxing. I'm just wondering if you got any new issues from R.B.L?" (Remnant's Boxing League.)

Tukson thought for a moment when he heard the young boxer ask that. He snapped his fingers together with a smile coming onto his face. "Ah, I do. New shipment of issues came in this morning." The Faunus bent down bellow the counter and rummaged around the shelves. He popped back up with a box full of magazines. On the front page of the magazine was a picture of two fighters on an arena. One of them was punching at the other person's face, a right uppercut into the side of the person's head.

**Zeus does it again! Is still the undefeated Champion in the world of boxing! **

Atom rolled his eyes when he saw that as the headlines of the magazine issue. He reached into his pocket for his wallet to pay for the magazine. "How much, Tukson?" Atom asked the shop owner.

Tukson shook his head at the silent boxer. "It's on the house this time, Atom."

This just made Atom tilt his head at Tukson in confusion. "But, I want to be able to pay for it."

"Atom, you've always came to my book store anytime you wanted to. You've been one of my most visited customers and always had a chat with me here. You're so full of energy and kindness." He poked Atom on the chest, chuckling at him. "You just need to let it out, ya know?" Tukson pulled out one of the magazines and handed it over to the silent boxer. "Here, go enjoy it now."

Atom grasped lightly at the magazine issue in his hands. He felt tears brim behind his eyes with his lips quivering from the joy that's bursting in his chest. He brought his hand up, wiping the tears away from his eyes. The silent boxer bit his lip while nodding at the Faunus. "Thanks... this means a lot..."

"Anytime, Atom." The two exchanged hand shakes before Atom bid farewell to the bookstore owner. He crossed his arms with a smile on his face. "Ah, he's still like the little kid I know."

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><p>Today was a good day for Atom Demos. He had a smile prevalent on his face from his walk from Tukson's Book Trade with the magazine in hand, which he was currently skimming off of. He was outside of a Dust shop leaning on the wall while looking at the magazine. His eyes scanned off from page to page. What he had summed up from reading the latest issue of R.B.L, it was said that there were rumours that the Champ himself, Zeus O Theos, was to be attending the Vytal Festival at the end of the year, to be participating in the tournament.<p>

This itself was a surprise to the Underdog. Maybe even perhaps his mentor. Zeus has only participated in boxing matches. Atom knew that there was a reason why he could take down his opponents down with only one hit. Like, why pay five hundred Lien to pay for a match that'll only last for ten seconds? Good profit for Zeus's team. And just draining the money away from the spectators.

He was snapped out of his reading when he heard something across from him. Lifting his head up from the magazine, he saw a group of men. Three of them were dressed in pitch black suits along with fedoras, blood red ties and sunglasses. The fourth one was leading the three in the group towards the Dust shop he was standing next to. The one in the lead was wearing a white suit with a red collar, a black bowler hat with a red band going around it, long black pants, shoes and gloves. He reached for his cigar and let out a cloud of smoke out of his mouth. Atom just looked at the man with a confused look. That was until the man looked at him. Atom quickly ducked his head back down behind his magazine as if he would be left alone by them.

Didn't go as expected by his thoughts.

"Hey, kid, what are you looking at?" The man called out at him. Atom just stayed put, not lifting his head up to face him. The man sighed as he bit back into his cigar. He walked over to Atom and stood in front of him. "Hey, are you even listening to me, kid?" Seeing that he wasn't going anywhere, Atom turned heel to walk down the sidewalk. He was only grabbed by his arm to be pulled back by the man. "Hey, I'm talking to ya."

Atom just looked at the man with eyes just as confused as his expression. "C-can I help you?" He shyly asked him, almost in a whimper. "I swear... I know I didn't do anything to you, sir." The man just stared down at the silent boxer that he had a hold on. "Sir, p-please let go of me..."

"You didn't see anything, got it? The man sneered at him. Seeing that something was wrong, Atom slowly clenched his hand into a fist, but hid it from the man's sight. "Now, if you just move along like a good little boy you are, I promise you won't needed to be a part of the hospital's injured."

That was his cue.

Snapping his left arm forward, he caught the man by surprise when his fist bashed into his nose. The man let go of him and grabbed hold of his nose. "Ugh, damn kid!" He looked behind him and pointed his cane at him. "Get him, you idiots!"

Atom assumed the boxing stance he was just in earlier back in the gym. The same Charlie taught him ever since he could remember. His left fist was just under his chin with the right not to far behind it. Legs were evenly spaced apart. Eyes were focused on the three thugs in front of him. _"Okay, just focus, and I'll be fine."_

One of them ran forward with his fists up. "Get some!" He threw his fist downwards at Atom. The Underdog spun around to the right, countering with a right cross on the thug's face, stunning him. Atom soon gave him two left jabs straight into his face with a right hook to the side of his head. The last punch sent him going down to the ground. The other two were surprised to see this. In front of them was a teen more smaller than them. Yet, he was able to take one of them down.

Compared to him, these thugs were just amateurs to him.

"What are you just standing there for?! Get him!" The man shouted at them. One of the two charged for Atom with his fists raised as well. He went down throwing a left uppercut. The Underdog leaned back countering with a right hook and threw a punch underneath his ribcage, delivering a shocking blow on the thug's gut. The thug bent down to hold onto his stomach whimpering in pain. Atom then threw a downward punch on his head, sending him face first into the ground.

The last thug just looked at Atom nervously. His fists were up but he was quivering all over. Atom just stood his ground, looking at him with stern eyes. Shaking his head, he ran towards him shouting like a crazy man. Before he could pull his hands back to strike, Atom quickly punched him in the face with a quick left jab and ended it with a right uppercut into his chin. The thug flew slightly into the air from the sudden uppercut and landed on his back. He joined in on the groaning of his fellow friends who were sprawled about on the ground. "Roman, sir, he... he just decked us..." the thug groaned out.

Roman sneered at Atom as he picked himself up from the ground with his cane supporting him. His nose was dripping a little blood from the punch Atom threw at him. "You're going pay dearly for this, kid."

Atom sighed as he faced down the criminal in front of him. "An' you're going to jail, sir." He advanced towards Roman with his fists out and a serious expression on his face. He was about to throw a punch at Roman until his fist was met with something that stopped his punch in it's tracks. He was full of confusion when he saw someone just instantly in front of Roman with a pink umbrella in front of the person blocking his punch.

He was pushed back after feeling the person kick him in the stomach. Atom placed a hand to ease the slight pain where the blow was inflicted on. Ever since he could remember, he always had an increased pain tolerance than regular people, which made him hard to knock or inflict damage on when in a fight. Atom faced the figure who still had her umbrella out. She moved the umbrella away revealing her face. Seeing her face, Atom's eyes widened.

She had long hair drifting down past her shoulders, with the left side a brown colour with her right a light pink colour with white streaks in them. Her left eye was a light pink with the other the same colour as the left side of her hair. She was wearing a white jacket with a pink interior and brown color pants. Under her jacket is a black corset, curved in the middle of the bottom, exposing her sides just slightly. A multitude of necklaces hung around her neck loosely, some which seemed familiar to the Underdog. She turned around to look at Roman. "Are you okay, sir?"

Roman nodded while glaring down at the confused boxer in front of them. ""I'm alright, Neo," he replied, loud enough for Atom to hear.

Neo looked back at Atom. Her eyes narrowed at him, observing the Underdog closely. Something in the back of her mind tickled something very faint in her memory. But it was deep in the recesses of her mind, which would take time to pull out. But now wasn't the right situation to do so.

Atom's eyes widened more when he heard her name. _"Neo?" _Painful memories started to surface back, making him tear up. He closed his eyes shaking his head, trying to forget about his mental scars.

"Neo, if you please," Roman told her. Neo nodded with a smirk coming to her face. She bowed down facing Atom, winking at him.

Atom shook his head and glared back at them. He raised his fists and ran towards them. Rearing his right fist back, he jumped at them, snapping his fist forward at Neo. When his fist made contact with her face, the two in front of him just shattered into pieces. He stood back up straight eying the the middle of the road as if they would appear back up from said road. He sighed deeply closing his eyes. Relaxing his hands, he wiped away the tears that brimmed in his eyes from the memories that just surfaced earlier. "Neo..." He whispered out. Seeing that they're no longer around the immediate area, Atom walked down the street, heading to the airship docks.

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><p>His hands were in his pockets when the airship doors opened. Taking in a deep breath, he walked down the ramp onto the stone trail, leading towards his home. Atom looked up to see the familiar green light suspended from the roof of the top of the tower of Beacon. He nodded and started walking down the trail towards the entrance of the academy.<p>

Atom passed through the wondering students of the academy in the hallway, walking towards the sparring arena. Many just gave him strange looks at his choice of clothing. His tracksuit jacket and pants were slightly torn and his shoes tearing a bit. They also thought that he was some exchange student from elsewhere that never left. Even fourth year students gave him strange looks since they saw him since their first year.

Seeing the trail of students coming out of the sparring arena he was heading to, he waited for them to empty the room before walking on in. He let a small smile come to his face when he saw his aunt in the middle of the arena. She looked up and saw him. She reflected the smile he gave her. "I see you're back from boxing," she replied to him.

Atom walked down to the arena and towards her. Looking at each other for a moment, he hugged her without warning, taking her off by surprise. "It's good to see you too, Auntie Glynda," he greeted back.

Recovering from her shock, Glynda hugged her nephew back with her smile growing. She placed a soft kiss on his forehead and gently rubbed his back. She promised that she'd take care of her sister's children like they were her own if anything was to happen to her and her husband. "You're a bit more late than usual. How come?"

Atom pulled back from the hug with a sigh. His head drooped down sadly when he remembered the events that had transpired earlier back in Vale. "Um, I ran into Roman while coming back from boxing."

Glynda gasped lightly with her eyes widening. She gently grabbed her nephew's shoulders and looked him straight in the eyes. "Are you okay? You're not hurt?" She asked while inspecting him for injuries.

"I'm fine, Aunite. I just decked his men to the ground. It's just that..."

"It's just what, Atom?" Glynda asked him tilting her head.

Atom gulped when he hesitantly looked at her. "I... I think I met someone I knew... From a long time ago..." Tears once again formed in his eyes but he refused to start crying. "Aunite, I want to get rid of those memories. I can't sleep at times at night because of nightmares of that night... I want to forget them..."

A frown made it's way to the Huntress's face seeing her nephew like this. She slowly wrapped her arms around him and hugged him tenderly. "Remember what I told you, Atom. No matter how hard you try to forget the past, it always seems to catch up to you. All you need to do is to decide what to do with it."

Atom hugged his Aunt back and sobbed quietly on her. His tears stained a small portion of her clothing on her shoulder, but she didn't mind. Glynda knew that Atom needed to let it out once in awhile. The poor boy has been through soo much in his life already from a young age.

Glynda gently stroked his back to calm him down. It seemed to do the trick as his sobbing slowly softened into small whimpers. Tears still leaked out of his eyes Even though his sobbing has ceased. "It's going to be okay, Atom. It's going to be okay."

Atom has heard those words numerous times already from his Aunt. But she was right. He had to be ready to face his past whenever it comes up running to him. He then remembered the words Charlie told him. _"The fight's not over until someone is on the mat."_

He knew that he had to fight. And that's what he's going to do. Atom nodded at his Aunt, shaking from his recent outburst. "Y-Yes, Auntie. I'll remember that..."

Glynda smiled at her nephew again and released her hold on him. "Good. I'm glad." She then remembered something that Professor Ozpin told her awhile ago. "Atom, Prof. Ozpin told me that you'll be given admittance to Beacon if you pass his test tomorrow."

Atom nodded wiping away his tears. "T-Thanks for tellin' me that, Auntie," he stuttered back at her.

"Good. Now, you should get some sleep. You need all the energy you can get for tomorrow," Glynda told him. Atom just hugged again and gave her a curt nod. That was all what Glynda needed from her nephew. "Good. Now shoo! Make yourself scarce," she told him, lightly pushing him away.

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><p>Atom yawned softly with his eyes closing. Reaching into his pocket, he fished out his keys for his room within the academy. The Underdog was given over to Glynda since she was the only family member left of his years ago. That was when he was a little kid, living and sleeping in the same room as his aunt. But it's naturally when kids mature into teens, they want to have their own room and try not to be caught by their parents or relatives. So Ozpin allowed Atom to have his own room inside Beacon. It saved money after all, and Atom is given the freedom of mobility to enter or exit Beacon whenever he likes to.<p>

He reached the room and switched the keys over and over until getting the right one. Ignoring the suspicious looks from the academy's students, he inserted the key into the doorknob and turned it around. Removing the key, he reached for the knob and opened the door to his room.

He was greeted by the familiar sights of the black punching back in the corner of his room. While he did go to the gym to practice, he always used the punching bag for at least half an hour after doing an hour or two of exercising in the morning. In the upper right corner of the medium sized room, was his bed. Nothing to fancy or anything, just normal for the boxer. Atom wasn't one to keep antiques or anything. He did have a bookshelf filled with tons of books, but that was pretty much it. Being shy did have it's advantages allowing him time to study in huge chunks.

Atom walked over to his bed and sat down on the edge of it. Itching at the end of the sports tape on one of his wrists, he peeled it off and began to remove the tape off his wrist and palm. He did the same thing to his other wrist before reaching up to his head and untied his headband. He placed it on the nightstand beside his bed and threw the tape into the wastebasket after crumpling them up into a ball. He liked his runners off and took off his tracksuit jacket along with his short, leaving him bare torso. Atom placed it on a nearby chair and laid himself down in the bed.

_"Neo... Why does she look so familiar? It's been too long since I've heard that name... Too long... No, don't think about it... It'll just tear me apart even more if I do." _Shifting down beneth the covers, Atom took in a deep breath and stared off at the ceiling. Muttering a few words to himself, he closed his eyes and relaxed his body and slowed his breathing. Soon, he found himself entering sleep. The last thought in his mind echoed out as he fell into slumber.

_"Neo..."_

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><p><strong>Yep, I think that was a good start to this story, don't you think. As always, leaving behind a review and stay safe out there.<strong>

**Heads up, I got a job now, so I won't be updating as much as before. I'll do my best, but juggling time between school and work will be hard, but I'll do my best.**


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